00:50
Protein is now at Starbucks, and it's never tasted so good.
00:53
Try our all-new Caramel Protein lattes with up to 31 grams of protein, and options with no added sugar.
01:02
Level up your drink at Starbucks.
01:05
Introducing the five-year business boost from Comcast Business.
01:08
It's the certainty of a price lock for five years on qualifying internet bundles,
01:12
plus the most reliable Wi-Fi with our best equipment.
01:15
And ask about a $500 prepaid card when you add two lines of mobile.
01:19
The five-year business boost only from Comcast Business.
01:23
Powering possibilities.
01:24
In's $222.26, new customers only.
01:26
One-year contract required for guarantee rate.
01:28
Five-year pricing applies a monthly service chart excluding taxes and fees.
01:31
Best Wi-Fi based on Open Signal Awards USA.
01:33
Fixed broadband experience report, May 2025.
01:40
Welcome to the Total Car Score podcast,
01:43
bringing you the world of cars from inside the car.
01:47
And now your hosts, Carl Brower, Lauren Ficks, and Javier Mota.
01:55
Hello, Total Car Score podcast listeners.
01:58
This is Carl Brower, and I will be hosting this episode of Total Car Score.
02:03
I was in Monterey Car Week recently, and along with Javier and Lauren,
02:09
the three of us met up and we talked and had a great episode that you've already heard.
02:14
We also had our solo adventures, and that included my ability to attend the week
02:20
as a host of Lamborghini, which I am very grateful for.
02:23
Lamborghini was kind enough to invite me up very last minute, but it worked out.
02:28
And I got to attend, and I got to drive the Lamborghini Rivalto up to Monterey
02:34
from Orange County.
02:36
It's about 400-mile drive, and this is a very expensive supercar.
02:42
I was not even aware of how much they were exactly until I got that one.
02:46
They start at $608,000, and they go up to well over $700,000
02:52
when they're equipped like most of these Lamborghinis are equipped.
02:55
And I will be doing a full road test on it and a video on my Carl Brower cars YouTube channel,
03:00
and there'll be more details about the vehicle.
03:02
But for this episode, I want to talk about the hybrid drivetrain that's in it
03:08
because in a few minutes you're going to hear from the main engineer at Lamborghini
03:14
responsible for the V12 hybrid drivetrain.
03:18
And this is the first hybrid drivetrain that Lamborghini released in the Rivalto,
03:22
the first model to experience or to feature a hybrid drivetrain.
03:29
They've already also released the Lamborghini Urus SE, which I also had recently,
03:34
and that video is already up on that one on my channel,
03:36
and there's a Forbes story that goes with it.
03:39
But I had not driven their first hybrid model,
03:42
which was the Rivalto until I drove it up to Monterey recently.
03:46
And while I was there, they introduced the limited production fenomino,
03:52
and I'm probably saying that wrong, but it comes from the word phenomenal
03:58
in both Spanish and Italian, fenomino,
04:01
and it was their newest very limited production Lamborghini.
04:05
They're only going to make 29 of them,
04:07
and the hybrid drivetrain that in the Rivalto makes 1,001 horsepower,
04:13
and I think it's 783 pound-feet of torque.
04:20
It makes 1,065 horsepower, so 64 more horsepower, not a huge jump,
04:25
but it is now the most powerful Lamborghini ever made, this fenomino,
04:29
with a very similar drivetrain.
04:31
It's the same basic drivetrain,
04:32
but it's been tweaked for some more horsepower in that car
04:35
versus the Rivalto that I drove up.
04:38
Here's the important part.
04:41
Lamborghini is electrifying their model range,
04:43
but they are not cutting back on performance.
04:45
When they put the hybrid drivetrain in the Urus SE,
04:50
they didn't turn it into a six-cylinder or a four-cylinder.
04:52
They kept the eight-cylinder that had already been in the car.
04:56
They just added power to it by putting in a hybrid component.
05:00
They did the exact same thing in the Rivalto.
05:02
They didn't take two cylinders away and make it a V10 or a V8.
05:05
They kept it as a V12 as their top-line supercar has been for decades.
05:10
They just added power with the hybrid drivetrain.
05:14
I feel like a lot of hybrid performance cars get bogged down from buyers
05:21
and the performance community because they're like,
05:23
well, you put a hybrid drivetrain in it,
05:25
you're taking away the passion and the fun and the purpose of a car like this.
05:30
I tend to agree with that truthfully.
05:31
I kind of am on that train of thought because usually that's what happens,
05:36
is that hybrid components add weight and they often pull cylinders
05:41
and pull kind of what was the heart of the performance vehicle
05:46
and they try to supplement it with electric motors and battery packs.
05:49
Lamborghini didn't do that either for the Urus with its V8
05:53
or more importantly for the Rivalto with its V12 engine.
05:57
They just made both of those drivetrains more powerful.
06:00
Now, they did add weight and I drove that Lamborghini Urus
06:03
and it gained 700 pounds.
06:05
I think it went from about 4,800 pounds to 5,500 pounds,
06:08
which made me quite concerned,
06:09
but it got such a big horsepower boost
06:12
that it's still the fastest Urus that's ever been made
06:16
faster than the normal non-hybrid version ones
06:20
and it held up really well when I drove it around corners.
06:25
Lamborghini's engineers were masterful at hiding
06:27
the extra 700 pounds and I couldn't really tell
06:29
when I drove it aggressively on a twisty road.
06:32
So it was really fast and it also still handled really well.
06:35
The Rivalto gains a couple hundred pounds.
06:40
I think it goes from about 3,900.
06:43
Give or take around 3,900 for the Aventador,
06:46
the previous V12 supercar that was the top end,
06:49
top line supercar from Lamborghini to around 4,100 pounds
06:53
with the Rivalto and its hybrid drivetrain.
06:57
But see the Aventador in its best form,
07:00
the Altimae was the name of the most powerful Aventador
07:03
made 770 peak horsepower and the Rivalto makes 1,001.
07:08
So it gained like 230 horsepower
07:12
and it only gained around 200 pounds.
07:14
So its pound per weight ratio is still far better,
07:18
the Rivalto's than the Aventador's
07:20
and it is the fastest Lamborghini ever made.
07:23
It does zero to 60 in two point,
07:26
well they said 2.5 seconds Lamborghini
07:29
and the car and driver got 2.2 seconds out of it,
07:33
So it's fast and I felt it
07:35
and here's the most important part though.
07:37
It also sounds fabulous.
07:38
I mean when the engine fires up
07:40
it like scares people because of how much noise it makes
07:42
and it's got all the exhaust whale
07:46
that you want a really expensive V12 powered mid-engine supercar
07:50
to have in spite of the fact
07:52
that there's also a hybrid drivetrain
07:53
and three electric motors and a battery pack in there.
07:58
So all this to say is Lamborghini knows
08:02
how to hybridize or electrify
08:04
or whatever you want to say,
08:05
their performance vehicles without in my opinion
08:08
screwing them up like a lot of other companies do
08:10
when they electrify them.
08:11
They've not lost any of their edge
08:13
in terms of exhaust note or performance
08:16
and that's really brilliant
08:18
and the person who's largely responsible for that
08:20
is who we are about to talk to from Lamborghini.
08:24
So with all that as a background
08:26
let's jump in to this very interesting
08:29
and telling interview
08:30
with the head of V12 development
08:34
and the guy responsible for
08:36
not only the Rivalto's drivetrain
08:38
that I've experienced
08:38
but the new Fenomino limited production
08:41
more powerful hybrid V12
08:44
that was featured recently at car week
08:47
and at the quail premiere.
08:52
not only at 2025 Monterey car week
08:55
but we are on the concept car lawn right now
08:58
and we are talking to Matteo Ortence
09:02
who is the head of development for the V12 product line
09:07
which is kind of an important product line
09:09
kind of the top end line
09:13
So let's talk about
09:15
not just that product line
09:16
but what you introduced here this year
09:19
this Fenomino amazing limited production car.
09:23
What would you say was the driving inspiration
09:27
when you sat down to work on this car with the team?
09:30
What was the goal that you had in mind at the beginning?
09:34
So we had a couple of goals with this car
09:37
because on one side for us it's a bread and statement
09:40
so this is representing who we are.
09:43
On the design the car you see that
09:46
Mithia Borquet our head of design was
09:49
having in mind this idea of the hyper elegant concept.
09:52
So on one side we want to show the mascots of the car
09:54
the power of the car
09:56
but to keep the car very clean.
09:58
As you can see there are no external wings
10:00
added wings or appendix in the car.
10:03
So we wanted to have the maximum potential on the
10:06
aero load in the front of the back button
10:09
So this was the idea behind and keeping
10:11
the elegance of the car itself.
10:14
On the other side for us is a technological laboratory.
10:17
So we wanted also to show what we are able to do
10:19
with our super sport car platform
10:21
that was born in 23 with Roberto
10:24
that we use also with Temerario
10:26
presented here last year in 2024
10:28
in order to show what are the boundaries
10:30
of this platform because we have a big potential there.
10:33
So that's why it's not just design
10:35
but a lot of technical content behind.
10:38
Now this one makes more power
10:41
than the Revolta's V12
10:45
and it's the most powerful Lamborghini
10:48
production vehicle yet.
10:51
And what was the ways you got a little more horsepower
10:53
what were some of the technical elements you did
10:56
to get that increased power out of this V12?
10:58
Well this is exactly when I was telling you
11:01
that we push the boundaries of the platform
11:03
so we increased the horsepower of the thermal engine
11:06
in the Revolta is 825 horsepower
11:09
here we have 10 horsepower more by the thermal unit
11:12
and then we have 245 horsepower
11:14
by the electric part of the car
11:17
so for sure we improved the battery management system
11:21
so we learned in last year's how to improve also
11:26
and on top of that we have a new battery
11:28
so Revolta is 3.8 kilowatt hour gross battery
11:33
so it's almost a double
11:35
and this is allowing us to have more energy
11:38
and to use more energy and power to the wheels.
11:41
Now what I found fascinating Matteo
11:43
is a lot of times when a car company
11:45
moves from traditional internal combustion
11:48
to hybrid or plug-in hybrid
11:52
and you try to supplement those
11:57
lop off any cylinders
11:59
you maintained the V12
12:01
to supplementing it
12:02
with the electric motor
12:04
and the battery hybrid components
12:06
which I thought was brilliant personally
12:08
but what was kind of the thinking on the Lamborghini side
12:11
as to not losing cylinders
12:14
just enhancing with hybrid power channel?
12:17
So for us the V12 is not just an engine
12:24
this is one of the reasons why to buy our cars
12:27
and we don't want to compromise on that
12:30
then this can be enriched
12:31
by the electric components
12:33
in order to have even more fun to drive
12:37
for example torque vector in the front
12:39
because of the two electric engines in the front
12:42
but this is something on top
12:43
we will never compromise on the heart of our car
12:48
and also in this car
12:50
also with a big exhaust
12:51
because we want to show that the engine
12:53
is still the natural aspirated V12
12:55
60 degrees as we like
12:57
Well I was fortunate enough to drive
12:59
a Rivalto up from Los Angeles to Carwy
13:02
and that's been my first experience
13:04
with the drivetrain in that vehicle
13:06
I did have an Urus a couple of months ago at the SE
13:10
the level, the volume
13:14
and the passion of the exhaust note
13:16
again has not been compromised whatsoever
13:19
so it seems like clearly
13:22
you didn't want to lose anything
13:24
this was purely a supplement ad process
13:27
when you put on the hybrid components
13:29
you didn't take away anything
13:31
it is and that's why also
13:33
we were not the first one to step into the hybridization
13:36
we wanted to be sure that technology
13:38
was ready to give something more to our customer
13:41
and this is exactly what we did with the Rivalto
13:43
and this is what we did again
13:45
also with Phenomenon
13:47
increasing the fun to drive
13:48
so this is something that for us is
13:50
giving more power, more freedom
13:52
also a wider spread of use of the car
13:56
for example you can go out of your garage
13:59
from the city center just in pure electric
14:01
this is something more that we could not do with the old cars
14:05
but we will never compromise them
14:07
when we have to have fun
14:08
to drive in handling, to drive
14:10
having a bit of fun on the corner
14:13
so this is part of our DNA
14:15
and we will never compromise on that
14:16
it sounds like you're pretty optimistic about the future
14:19
of not just performance in general
14:23
but specifically Lamborghini's ability to leverage
14:26
the evolving electrification
14:28
for performance that matches
14:30
their style, their passion, their history, their heritage
14:33
is that correct to say you feel
14:35
like the future is very bright
14:37
with electrification and Lamborghini?
14:39
Yes, I'm optimistic
14:41
because we saw what was happening with the Rivalto
14:45
and I give you already the outlook for the future
14:47
we don't want to compromise on V12
14:50
also in the next year
14:51
so we believe that we can go on
14:53
we believe that our customers want
14:56
that we go on with the V12
14:57
so we'll work to keep this engine
14:59
this kind of engine also
15:01
in the next steps of our products
15:04
Matteo, thank you for your time
15:06
this has been a great discussion
15:07
and congratulations on another stunning vehicle
15:10
and not just vehicle
15:11
but drivetrain design
15:13
that apparently you're directly involved with
15:15
it must be a very exciting time
15:16
It is, thank you very much
15:19
That's a wrap for this episode of the Total Car Score podcast
15:26
Want more expert takes on the hottest cars, industry trends
15:29
and insider insights?
15:31
Join Javier Mota, Lauren Fix and Carl Brower
15:34
every week for the ultimate auto talk
15:37
Hit subscribe, like and share with your friends
15:40
to stay informed and stay ahead
15:45
At Nature's Bounty the belief is simple
15:49
you already have a brilliant body
15:51
supplements just help support your journey
15:53
for over 50 years Nature's Bounty has offered vitamins
15:55
and supplements to help you eat, sleep, thrive, repeat
15:58
from magnesium glycinate for heart and muscle support
16:00
to hair growth capsules for fuller thicker hair
16:03
and probiotics with 20 billion live cultures for digestion
16:06
Nature's Bounty, it's in your nature to thrive
16:09
Learn more at naturesbounty.com
16:11
These statements have not been evaluated
16:12
by the Food and Drug Administration
16:13
These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure
16:16
or prevent any disease
16:18
Gas, snacks, tolls?
16:19
This trip is draining my wallet
16:21
Yeah, but we'll be with family
16:24
You're in a good mood
16:27
I saved in Metro with no activation fees
16:29
and I got one line of 5G for just $25 per month
16:32
kept the phone I love
16:33
and a five-year price guarantee on my talk, text and data
16:37
Get that more for your money-pilling
16:39
only at Metro by T-Mobile
16:40
Just bring your number, $30 first month and $25 after with Autopay
16:43
Not available if with Metro T-Mobile in the past 180 days
